They brought the fight to Cuomo’s Midtown office on Third Avenue yesterday, when nine protesters held signs declaring “children are going to die” without the speed cameras, until they were arrested for blocking traffic.

Many of the protesters have lost children and loved ones to traffic crashes. Four years ago, they came together as Families for Safe Streets, conveying moral urgency to Albany in a campaign that successfully lowered the default speed limit in New York and expanded the speed camera program to 140 school zones, so other New Yorkers wouldn’t feel the same anguish. The legacy of that work is substantial: Traffic deaths in New York have declined every year since, reaching historic lows and defying national trends.

By letting the speed camera program expire, Cuomo and the legislature are reversing that progress and undoing what Families for Safe Streets fought for. Unless Albany reconvenes and enacts a bill to extend the program, the speed cameras will be shut off before August.

“Many, many lives have been saved, but last night, the leader of our state failed us,” said Cohen. “He got a bridge named after his father, he got a train, but he failed to pass the speed camera program.”

“We will not take no for an answer,” said Amy Cohen. Photo: Ben Fried

Cohen’s son, Sammy Cohen Eckstein, was struck and killed by a driver five years ago. He would have graduated from high school this week. This session, Cohen spent months organizing support for speed cameras at yeshivas in the senate district of Simcha Felder, the committee chair who bottled up the bill even though it has the votes to pass. She made her case to legislators in Albany and flushed Felder out. And she’s not done. “We will not take no for an answer,” she said.

Other members of Families for Safe Streets shared her anger and determination.

“I am horrified that this bill didn’t get passed,” said Joan Dean, Sammy’s grandmother. “I think it’s disgusting that the governor and the leadership didn’t get this done.”

Judy Kottick, whose daughter Ella Bandes was killed by a bus driver in 2013, called the inaction on speed cameras “unconscionable.” “We’re devastated,” she said. “It’s insulting to our kids.”

Today marks 12 years since Mary Beth Kelly lost her husband, Dr. Carl Henry Nacht, who was struck by an NYPD tow truck driver while biking on the Hudson River Greenway. Her message to Cuomo: “Do the right thing, extend the session, get the job done.”

Amy Tam Liao’s young daughter Allison was struck and killed by a turning driver in Flushing in 2013. She was arrested with eight other protesters demanding a special session of the legislature to extend and expand NYC’s speed camera program. Photo: Ben Fried

Good luck with this. If I recall, the only time they convene a special session is when they fail to pass a budget. Besides that, I’m sure quite a few legislators wanted the camera program to lapse even if they didn’t say so publicly. They also made it lapse in such a way that most of them aren’t seemingly accountable (except Felder). Maybe he was intentionally made the sacrificial lamb here, although he’ll probably still win reelection in his district despite killing the camera program.

You’ve got until July 12 to file petitions, every one of which will be challenged in court, to get on the ballot against these people.

The requirement for 500 for Assembly and 1,000 for the state senate, though incumbents usually have those they fund with our money collect 3-4 times that amount to avoid being knocked off the ballot, even as they sue before the judges they appoint to knock any challengers off.

They are basically sneering up in Albany.

Frank Harris

Wow these things are getting super wild right now. Being from Los Angeles we see up hand how these changes so many things. I wonder how those in Seattle Washingtonare dealing with this

Assembly Member Deborah Glick will introduce legislation to significantly expand New York City’s speed camera program. To get the bill enacted, street safety advocates will have to build support in the State Senate and ensure that Governor Cuomo signs it into law. At a press conference this morning, Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely White joined members […]

Right now, Albany limits NYC to 140 speed enforcement cameras for all 6,000 miles of surface streets in the city. A broad spectrum of New York City voters approve of expanding the program. The question is whether Albany Democrats Andrew Cuomo, Jeff Klein, and Carl Heastie will take action to save lives.

The State Senate budget released late last week includes a plan to expand New York City’s school zone speed enforcement program from 20 cameras to 180 cameras. As the Senate, Assembly and Governor Cuomo enter budget negotiations, families of traffic violence victims are in Albany today to meet with legislators and push for policies that […]

Advocates from Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets will head to Albany tomorrow calling on legislators to expand NYC’s automated speed enforcement program. They want speed cameras by each of the city’s 2,500-plus schools, operational at all times. Speeding is a leading cause of crashes resulting in injury or death, yet state law limits New York […]